Liquid dispenser

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for dispensing a precise amount of liquid from a sealed container into a syringe, open at one end, without engaging the syringe plunger. A positive and negative pressure is successively applied to the liquid in the sealed container forcing it through a conduit into the syringe. The predetermined position of the conduit in the syringe determines the level of the liquid in the syringe.

United States Patent Bowser et a1.

[ 1 May9,1972

[ LIQUID DISPENSER [72] Inventors: Gary L. Bowser; Roger D. Lenhardt,both of Toledo, Ohio [7 3] Assignee: Owens-Illinois, Inc.

[22] Filed: June 23, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 49,070

[52] U.S. C1. ..141/1,23/259, 128/218C,

141/114, 141/116, 141/329, 141/378 [51] Int. Cl ..B65b 3/14 [58]FieldofSearch ..23/259;128/2l5,2l8R,2l8C;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,489,035 11/1949 Jones..14l/l16X 2,584,397 2/1952 Pitman ..l41/329 X 2,677,480 5/1954 Wiczer"23/259 X OTHER PUBLICATIONS Taylor, D. 6., Protective CoatingApplicator, in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, 8( 1 p. 86, June 1965,TK 7800113.

Primary Examiner-Edward .1. Earls Attorney-T. T. Schell and E. J. Holler57 ABSTRACT Method and apparatus for dispensing a precise amount ofliquid from a sealed container into a syringe, open at one end, withoutengaging the syringe plunger. A positive and negative pressure issuccessively applied to the liquid in the sealed container forcing itthrough a conduit into the syringe. The predetermined position of theconduit in the syringe determines the level of the liquid in thesyringe.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY we 3,661,189

SHEET 2 OF 3 FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

GAQU L. OMSQR BY Robc-ea D NHARDT LIQUID DISPENSER THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to a method and apparatus for dispensing liquids. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus fordispensing a precise volume of liquid into a syringe without engagingthe syringe plunger and without first attaching a needle.

The present trend in the distribution of drugs on the hospital level isto prepare and administer such drugs as a unit dose or a single unit.Unit-dose drug distribution is a system of packaging drugs in individualdoses containing a predetermined amount of the drug ready for directadministration to the patient. The drugs packaged may include solid andliquid orals, injectables and topicals; they may be prepared in thesingleunit form either by the drug manufacturer or by the hospitalpharmacist. Under this system, the pharmacist sends the exact or maximumuseable quantity of properly labeled drugs needed for a period of time(usually two to four times per 24 hour period). Each medication unit isclearly identified and sealed from the time of preparation by thepharmacist until the time of administration at the patients bedside.

In the past, the hospital pharmacy would supply drugs in large volume tothe floor in a hospital where the drugs were used in quantity. The nurseor person in charge of administering drugs on that floor would drawmedication when needed from the large supply reservoir and would returnthe reservoir to a shelf or drug storage area on that floor. Thismultiple-dose procedure has led, however, to numerous errors either inadministering the correct quantity of medication since the drugs mightbe prepared by a large number of persons working on the floor whose workload requires them to spend less time in preparing medication. In orderto minimize errors and to increase overall efficiency, many hospitalsare transferring to the new unit-dose method of handling drugs.

Applicants invention relates to a method and apparatus to implementunit-dose packaging of liquid injectable drugs into a syringe. Prior tothis invention, syringes were filled to the desired volume by insertingthe needle of the syringe into a vial containing the liquid anddepressing and withdrawing the plunger in the syringe to draw the liquidfrom the vial into the syringe. If too much liquid was drawn into thesyringe, it was ejected into a waste receptacle by depressing theplunger. This method of packaging did not lend itself to the unit-dosesystem since the now unsterile needle must be transferred from thehospital pharmacy to the patient and then be reused on the patient in anunsterile state or after it has been cleaned with alcohol and cotton.

Applicants invention minimizes the risk of contaminating the syringeduring filling and transportation by providing a method and apparatusfor dispensing a known volume of liquid into a syringe through the tipend" of the syringe without engaging the plunger and without firstattaching a needle to the syringe.

The other advantages of unit-dose system for injectables over thepreviously used multiple-dose system is that the new system decreasesthe probability of medication error both in the quality and quantity ofthe drug administered; it decreases the risk of pilferage since itplaces drug control with the hospital pharmacist rather that the nursingunit; it provides for complete identification of the drug, lot number,expiration date, etc., from the time the drug leaves the hospitalpharmacy up to the time of administration to the patient. It can be seenthat this system places in the hands of the pharmacist theresponsibility of drug preparation, thereby relieving the nurse of oneof the three stages of medication distribution.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With these advantages of the unit-dose systemover the multiple-dose system, it is the object of this invention toprovide a method and apparatus for dispensing a known volume of fluidinto a syringe without engaging the plunger and without first attachinga needle to the syringe.

LII

It is another object of this invention to provide a method and apparatusto dispense liquid into a syringe which is adaptable to the unit-dosemethod of packaging.

It is an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus todispensea known volume of liquid into syringes of various volumecapacities.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatusto dispense liquid into a syringe adaptable to the unit-dose packagingprocess which decreases the risk of contamination over the presentmethod of dispensing using plunger movement. g

In order to implement these objectives, this invention provides a methodand apparatus for dispensing liquid into a needless syringe bysupporting the syringe inan inverted position with the tip end extendingupwardly and the plunger end extending downwardly; inserting into thebarrel of the syringe a liquid conduit means, filling the syringe withliquid, withdrawing excess liquid from the barrel of the syringe throughthe conduit means until the desired volume fluid remains in the syringe.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred embodiment of thesyringe filling apparatus of this invention.

IN THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing of the dispensing apparatus which is thesubject of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective sectional view of the dispensingapparatus shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 2- -2' wherein the syringe isin a raised position.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective sectional view of the dispensingapparatus similar to that of FIG. 2, wherein the syringe is in a loweredposition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE APPARATUS Referring now to FIG. 1, there is provideda dispensing apparatus generally designated by the numeral 10. Thedispensing apparatus 10, which may also be referred to as a ringstand,includes a flat base 11 and a support rod 12 extending perpendicularlyfrom the base. Since it is desirable that the apparatus be easilycleaned, it is preferred that it be made of a non-corroding metal suchas stainless steel or aluminum, or be chromium plated.

Support rod 12 is provided with a plurality of support clamps 23 and 33which serve the function of holding vial 20 which is a sealed containerin an inverted position. Bottle hold down clamp 33 is slideably mountedon rod 12 and is held at the desired height by mount 32, which is alsoslideably attached to rod 12. Clamp 33 is free to rotate about rod 12within slot 17 of mount 32. v

Support-clamp 23 isslideably mounted onto rod 12 and is characterized bytwo pairs of bifurcated support members 27 and 28. Within the lowersupport member 28 is provided a threaded thumb screw 18.

As shown in FIG. 1, support clamps 23 and 33 coact to securely hold avial 20, placed therebetween, in a secure inverted position. Vial 20 isof the type commonly used to store liquid injectables. As shown in FIG.2, vial 20 contains a metal closure 22, open at the center thereof witha resilient liner 26 (FIG. 2) covering the center of the metal overcap,thereby permitting the perforation of the liner with a needle withoutremoving the closure. In this invention, vial 20 may be considered amulti-dose package from which liquids are drawn to fill many unit-dosepackages.

A long air supply needle 25 is inserted through liner 26, shown in FIG.2, and extended into the inverted vial 20 until the tip of .the needleis above the level of liquid in the inverted vial. It will becomeobvious from the remaining description that the tip of supply needle 25should always raise above the liquid in the inverted vial. Hollowflexible tube 16 communicates between resilient bulb 15 shown in FIG. 1and air supply needle 25. Bulb 15 is supported above vial 20 by means ofbulb support clamp 43 which, like clamps 23 and 33, is slideably mountedto support rod 12. Although FIG. 1 shows a bulb as supplying air to vial20, it should be understood that any means may be provided supplying thenecessary positive and negative pressure upon the liquid in the vial.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, located below clamp 23 and slideably mountedto support rod 12 is another clamp 13. This clamp has located therein avertical opening 41 used to guide a syringe 40 open at one end andplaced therein into alignment with conduit 35. Syringe support clamp 13has also located therein opening 37 to align that clamp with calibratedscale 30. Opening 37 is of a larger diameter than scale so that clamp 13may be vertically moved with respect to clamp 23.

Scale or indicia means 30 is a rod with a flat surface at its lower endcontaining calibrations 31 thereon. The scale is inserted into vialsupport clamp 23 and securely held in position in said clamp by setscrew 21. Scale 30 is so positioned into clamp 23 that it issubstantially parallel to rod 12. Thus, when knob 36 of clamp 13 isrotated, clamp 13 is free to move in a vertical direction to align withany of the calibrations 31 on the scale.

Dispensing conduit is securely clamped into a vertical position withinbifurcated support member 28 by means of thumb screw 18. Conduit 35consists of two needles extending axially in opposite directions. Oneneedle is inserted into vial 20 through resilient liner 26 so that itjust pierces the liner and does not extend appreciably beyond the liner;the other needle is inserted into the tip end 44 of syringe whichsyringe is held in position by guide clamp 13.

OPERATION OF THE FILLING APPARATUS The remaining description relates tothe calibration and operation of the dispensing apparatus 10 and showshow this invention lends itself to the unit-dose method of drugdistribution.

Although the calibration of the instrument shall be described below, itis assumed for purposes of explaining the method of operation that theapparatus has been properly calibrated for the particular syringe beingfilled.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show syringe support clamp 13 in the extreme upper andlower positions respectively with respect to calibrations 31. It shouldbe understood that clamp 13 may be adjusted to any position by means ofknob 36 so as to align with the desired calibrations 31 on scale 30. Thecalibrations indicate the volume of liquid which will be dispensed intothe syringe 40 by compressing and releasing resilient plunger 15, shownin FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the operation of the apparatus, clamp 13is adjusted by means of knob 36 so that the top plane 14 of clamp 13aligns with the desired scale reading on the calibrations 31. Thisrepresents the volume of liquid to be dispensed into the syringe. Then,a graduated syringe 40, having graduations directly related to thecalibrations 31 of scale 30, is inserted tip end first through theopening 41 of guide clamp 13. While the syringe is being inserted inclamp 13, the lower end of conduit 35 is inserted into the tip end 44 ofthe syringe. When the flange 46 of the syringe comes to rest against thebottom plane of clamp 13, it is secured in place during the fillingoperation by the operator who merely holds his finger against theflange.

After the syringe 40 is in the filling position about conduit 35 andclamp 13 has been aligned with the desired volume calibration 31 onscale 30, the operator depresses bulb 15, shown in FIG. 1. Air is forcedthrough tube 16 and through air supply needle 25, causing a positivepressure upon the surface of the liquid in vial 20. This pressure forcesthe liquid from the vial through the upper and lower needles of conduit35 and into syringe 40. If the liquid level in the syringe rises abovethe lowermost tip of conduit 35, that liquid is drawn back into vial 20when bulb 15 is released. This is caused by the negative pressure in thebulb being transmitted through tube 16 and air supply needle 25 to thesurface of the liquid in the vial. If the uppermost end of needle 25 isbelow the level of the liquid in the vial, it can be seen that, uponrelease of bulb 15, the liquid in the vial will be drawn through needle25, through line 16, and into bulb 15.

This drawback problem can be eliminated if the end of needle 25 isalways positioned above the level of the liquid in inverted via] 20. Thevacuum or negative pressure on the surface of the liquid in vial 20caused by the release of bulb 15 draws back into vial 20 the liquid fromsyringe 40, which is above the terminal end of conduit 35. When theliquid level in the syringe corresponds to lowermost point of theconduit, no more liquid is drawn back into vial 20. Rather, the vacuumabove the liquid level in the vial and in bulb 15 is released by the airwhich is drawn through tip end 44 and then through conduit 35. Theliquid level in the syringe should now coincide with the terminal end ofconduit 35. Since the operation of this dispensing apparatus alwayscauses the terminal end of conduit 35 to correspond to the level ofliquid in the syringe 40, the volume calibrations 31 can be easilyplaced on scale 30 as hereinafter described.

CALIBRATION OF THE DISPENSING APPARATUS It must first be pointed out inthe description of the method of calibrating this dispensing apparatusthat the calibrations 31 are made to coincide with the linear volumecalibrations on the wall of the particular syringe to be filled. Ifdifferent syringes 40 are used of varying internal diameters andvolumes, it is obvious that the linear scale on the wall of one syringemay not correspond to the linear scale on the wall of another syringe ofa different internal diameter. Therefore, the calibrations 31 must bechanged each time a syringe is used which does not have the sameinternal diameter, volume, or plunger location as does the calibratingsyringe.

For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the syringes of onemanufacturer coincide with those of another so that the samecalibrations 31 may be used for all syringes. It is also assumed inorder to make this calibration that all syringes come with somerepackaged plunger 47 or other means to hold liquid in the syringe,which plunger is located at the same constant position with respect tothe uniform graduations on the wall of the syringe. It is preferable forpurposes of calibration and dispensing that the prepackaged plunger 47always be located at the largest number calibration on the syringe,which, in the preferred embodiment, is number 2 56.

Referring now to FIG. 3, conduit 35 is securely clamped into the lowerbifarcated member 28 or clamp 23 by means of thumb screw 18 so that thetip of the uppermost needle of conduit 35 just perforates liner 26.

A syringe 40, containing uniform volume graduations beginning with thenumber 0 and containing a plunger 47 prepositioned at the largest volumecalibration on the syringe is inserted into support clamp 13 until theflange 46 of the syringe 40 contacts the bottom plane of the clamp 13.The syringe is held in place against the clamp 13 by one finger of theoperator. The clamp 13 and syringe 40 are adjusted by releasing knob 36until the plane corresponding to the 0 graduation on the wall of thesyringe coincides with the terminal end of conduit 35 as shown in FIG.3. The point on scale 30 which is horizontally aligned with the'topplane 14 of clamp 13 is scored with the number which corresponds to thelargest number on the graduation of the wall of the syringe, which inthis instance is the number 2 55. This represents a volume of 2 A cc.

The clamp 13 and the syringe 40 are then raised as shown in FIG. 2 byreleasing knob 36 until the terminal end of conduit 35 coincides withthe largest number graduation on the wall of the syringe, which in thepreferred embodiment is 2 A. The point on scale 30, which ishorizontally aligned with the top plane 14 of clamp 13, is scored withthe number 0. This represents a volume of 0 cc. When the needle is atthe maximum number graduation on the wall of the syringe, it isdesirable that the plunger 47 be pre-aligned with this graduation andthat the needle contact the plunger. If the plunger is not so aligned, acorrective factor equal to the volume between the plunger and thelargest number graduation must be added to the volume indicated on thecalibration scale 31.

After two lines have been scored on scale 30 representing the minimumand maximum volume which can be accommodated by the syringe, theremainder of the space between these two lines is equally divided intothe desired number of major and minor graduations corresponding to thenumber of major and minor graduations on the wall of the syringe.

When scale 30 has been calibrated for one syringe of a given internaldiameter and volume, it can be used for any other syringe of the sameinternal diameter and volume provided that the flange 46 and the plunger47 are in the same position within the syringe as the syringe used forcalibration.

It can be seen from this description of the method of calibration thatany commercial syringe can be used for unitdose dispensing if thedispensing apparatus has been calibrated for that particular syringe asdescribed above.

It can also be seen that the above-described syringe dispenser can beeasily adapted to the unit-dose distribution system, since a pharmacistcan fill a large number of syringes having the same capacity, diameter,and plunger position to any desired volume level in a short period oftime by merely inserting the syringe into the guide clamp, adjusting theguide to align with the desired volume on the scale and depressing thebulb to force liquid both into and out of the supply vial. A needlecontaining a protective cover can be positioned over the tip end of thesyringe immediately after dispensing by this method. The syringe is nowready to be used in the unit-dose distribution system.

This dispensing apparatus permits a large number of the same syringes tobe filled to a known volume without moving the plunger and without firstattaching a needle to the syringe, thereby promoting efficiency andsafety in the filling of syringes.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for controllably dispensing a precise amount of liquid froma sealed container to an open-topped container, comprising:

means for supporting said sealed container,

means connected to said sealed container for alternately establishing anegative and positive pressure within the container,

conduit means extending from the interior of said sealed container to apreselected point in the interior of said open-topped container andhaving its outside terminal portion extending in a downwardly direction,

guide means connected to said support means for guiding and aligning theopen-topped container telescopingly over the terminal end of saidconduit, and,

means connected to said guide means for adjusting the vertical positionthereof.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pressureestablishing means extends into the sealed container and above the levelof liquid in the container to establish a positive and negative pressureupon the surface of the liquid in the container.

3. The apparatus claimed in claim 1 wherein said conduit means extendsto a point within said sealed container which point is below the liquidlevel in the sealed container.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the preselected point inthe interior of the open-topped container corresponds to the desiredlevel of liquid to be dispensed into said open-topped container.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including indicia means adjacentto said guide means for indicating the volume of liquid to be dispensedinto said open-topped container.

6. Method for controllably dispensing a precise amount of liquid from asealed container to an open-ended container through a conduit means,comprising the steps of:

supporting said sealed container,

positioning said open-ended container in an upright posin po s izidningsaid conduit means between the interior of said sealed container and theinterior of said open-ended container so that the outside terminalportion of said conduit means extends in a downwardly direction withinsaid open-ended container, guiding and aligning said open-toppedcontainer telescopically over the terminal end of said conduit means sothat the terminal end of said conduit means coincides with apredetermined point in the interior of the open-ended containercorresponding to a preselected volume encompassed by the containervolume below said point, and

alternately applying a positive and negative pressure within the sealedcontainer to deliver an excess of the desired amount of liquid throughsaid conduit and into said openended containers and to withdraw theexcess.

7. Method for controllably dispensing a precise amount of liquid from asealed container to an open-ended container through a conduit means,comprising the steps of:

supporting said sealed container,

positioning said open-ended container in an upright position,

positioning said conduit means between the interior of said sealedcontainer and the interior of said open-ended container so that theoutside terminal portion of said conduit means extends in a downwardlydirection within said open-ended container,

adjusting the relative position of said open-ended container and theterminal end of said conduit means telescoped therein so that theterminal end of said conduit means coincides with a predetermined pointin the interior of said container, and

applying a positive pressure within the sealed container to force aquantity of liquid through said conduit and into said open-endedcontainers to a depth greater than the position of the terminal portionof said conduit, and then applying a negative pressure within the sealedcontainer to return that quantity of liquid from the open-endedcontainer that is above the terminal portion of the conduit.

0 mg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF- CORRECTION Patent No.3,661,189 Dated May 9. 1972 GARY L. BOWSER and RODGER D. LENHARDT It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Cover Page, Inventors:, "Roger" should be Rodger. Col. 2, line 14,"needless" should be --needleless-; Col. 2, line 28, "2-2'" should be-2'2'--.

. Signed and Scaled this Twenty-second D3) Of March 1977 [SEAL] Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Arresting Officer Commissioner oflarentsand Trademarks

1. Apparatus for controllably dispensing a precise amount of liquid from a sealed container to an open-topped container, comprising: means for supporting said sealed container, means connected to said sealed container for alternately establishing a negative and positive pressure within the container, conduit means extending from the interior of said sealed container to a preselected point in the interior of said opentopped container and having its outside terminal portion extending in a downwardly direction, guide means connected To said support means for guiding and aligning the open-topped container telescopingly over the terminal end of said conduit, and, means connected to said guide means for adjusting the vertical position thereof.
 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pressure establishing means extends into the sealed container and above the level of liquid in the container to establish a positive and negative pressure upon the surface of the liquid in the container.
 3. The apparatus claimed in claim 1 wherein said conduit means extends to a point within said sealed container which point is below the liquid level in the sealed container.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the preselected point in the interior of the open-topped container corresponds to the desired level of liquid to be dispensed into said open-topped container.
 5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including indicia means adjacent to said guide means for indicating the volume of liquid to be dispensed into said open-topped container.
 6. Method for controllably dispensing a precise amount of liquid from a sealed container to an open-ended container through a conduit means, comprising the steps of: supporting said sealed container, positioning said open-ended container in an upright position, positioning said conduit means between the interior of said sealed container and the interior of said open-ended container so that the outside terminal portion of said conduit means extends in a downwardly direction within said open-ended container, guiding and aligning said open-topped container telescopically over the terminal end of said conduit means so that the terminal end of said conduit means coincides with a predetermined point in the interior of the open-ended container corresponding to a preselected volume encompassed by the container volume below said point, and alternately applying a positive and negative pressure within the sealed container to deliver an excess of the desired amount of liquid through said conduit and into said open-ended containers and to withdraw the excess.
 7. Method for controllably dispensing a precise amount of liquid from a sealed container to an open-ended container through a conduit means, comprising the steps of: supporting said sealed container, positioning said open-ended container in an upright position, positioning said conduit means between the interior of said sealed container and the interior of said open-ended container so that the outside terminal portion of said conduit means extends in a downwardly direction within said open-ended container, adjusting the relative position of said open-ended container and the terminal end of said conduit means telescoped therein so that the terminal end of said conduit means coincides with a predetermined point in the interior of said container, and applying a positive pressure within the sealed container to force a quantity of liquid through said conduit and into said open-ended containers to a depth greater than the position of the terminal portion of said conduit, and then applying a negative pressure within the sealed container to return that quantity of liquid from the open-ended container that is above the terminal portion of the conduit. 